


feel like you're alone (you missed the crowd)

by ㅎㅊ도 (HChnD)



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), First Meeting, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, M/M, One Shot, Photographer Choi Jongho, Photography, Strangers, That is all, jongho is entranced, yeosang got dumped, yeosang is hurt and jongho comforts - the au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:55:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23084341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HChnD/pseuds/%E3%85%8E%E3%85%8A%EB%8F%84
Summary: Jongho used to only take pictures of what he found beautiful and then leave. But when the beauty is on a crying man, he feels conflicted to just let him in such a vulnerable state.After all, he'd probably look much prettier smiling.
Relationships: Choi Jongho & Kang Yeosang, Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, either works - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 112
Collections: Arthur's Adventures With Fic Fests





	feel like you're alone (you missed the crowd)

**Author's Note:**

> thanks luna for giving it a quick read <3 and for yall, enjoy!  
> title from suggi's astroboy. jongho stans follow me

Jongho wasn’t sure when his love for photography blossomed. As far as he remembers he’s always had a camera on his hand, either if it’s a cheap, old one or the low-quality camera his phone had. It was a natural thing for him now, or maybe it was always like a second nature of his. Despite him not being a professional and having no intentions to become one, he had gotten the habit of going out and taking pictures for himself. It earned him a beautiful Instagram layout and a lot of self-pride. The feeling of accomplishment he had when he looked at his own pictures was one of the best feelings he’s ever felt.

And, so, he would always go out once per week to the nearest park to capture as many beautiful pictures as he could. Some other times he’d visit different places, but being a busy university student, Jongho often opted this one specific park instead. Not that he hated it, as the place was indeed very beautiful and one of his favourites spots to photograph on. Even if many of his pictures were of the same place, there were so many different people on every different weekend he visited that he’d still get unique pictures no matter how many times he returned to this one place.

With his beloved camera on hands, he walked around the familiar scenario and captured a few frames here and there. The sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly. It was a beautiful Saturday, with kids chasing each other, couples having sweet dates, and a quiet man around his age sitting under a tree. He didn’t think much before raising the lenses towards them, capturing the children playing green light red light, zooming in on the one caller, then zooming out on those approaching them. Jongho then turned it to one of the couples he’s spotted, who were having some ice cream. The girl started laughing as she looked at her boyfriend, who tilted his head in confusion. He clicked many times as she moved a finger to his cheek, as he apparently had some of his own ice cream on it.

He lastly moved towards the man under the tree, clicking a few times from far and then zooming in. But, once the camera showed his face’s features better, he paused.

He was _really_ beautiful, however, his face was full of tears.

Jongho lowered the camera, staring at his direction. The desire to capture that was itching inside him, after all, the other was stunning and the way he was under the tree, only a few rays of sunlight hitting his skin… it accentuated his natural handsomeness. But still, he looked so vulnerable and hurt, it made him conflicted. At the same time he wanted to capture that moment, he felt bad for taking advantage of such thing and ignoring it after taking the photo.

His index was over the camera’s shutter button, threatening to press it. There was no one to stop him, the figure hadn’t noticed his presence and no one paid attention to him. He could press it, eternalize that picture and call it a day.

Still, despite it being so pretty and despite the temptation… it was heartbreaking. Despite it all, he couldn’t bring himself to capture his photos and walk away. Jongho felt like he had to do something else, something besides just watching and taking photos. 

He breathed in and out slowly, making up his mind. And, so, he turned off his camera and walked towards the stranger.

“Excuse me?”, he said in a soft voice once he was close enough to the man under the tree, hoping to not startle him. It didn’t help much, the other still jumped on his seat, turning his head slowly to stare at him. Damn, he really was handsome, but also, it hurt to see his face red and swollen. 

“Yes?”, came his reply, in a voice so weak he barely heard it.

“Are you alright?”, Jongho asked, getting closer to him. “Such a pretty man shouldn’t be crying but smiling instead.”

He didn’t know what got him to compliment the other so fast, but considering he only reacted by blushing and smiling shyly, he was glad to blurt that out. “You don’t even know me.”

“Well, I’d love to. Can I sit here beside you? It feels weird to look down on you.”

The stranger bit his cheeks and gave him a small nod. 

“Thank you”, he said softly, sitting down under the tree. “My name is Jongho, by the way. Choi Jongho. And you are…?”

“…Kang Yeosang.”

 _What a beautiful name_ , he thought to himself, _as beautiful as the man who owns it_. But he didn’t say it out loud, just smiled silently. “So, Yeosang-ssi, why are you crying? The weather is so good today, and you’re so charming yourself.”

“You’re flattering me, Jongho-ssi”, he said quietly, and then left a sad sigh. “My boyfriend broke up with me today, so even if the day looks so enjoyable, I can’t have fun. We were almost married, you know? Living together, planning our years to come… but I guess that was just me.”

Jongho didn’t dare to comment on that. He only watched the other who stared at the floor, eyes sad but still having a smile on. It wasn’t a warm smile, though, it was as cold as his glare.

“It’s been so long since we’ve been together, I thought nothing would tear us apart. I honestly thought that, with all our history, it’d never end, you know?”, Yeosang kept going. “But I guess he’s gotten bored of me. I don’t know. His love for me had come to an end and he couldn’t do it anymore, so he broke up with me. He had everything prepared, he was even fully packed!”, he scoffed at the last commentary. “That was probably on his mind for a good while but he only kept it to himself.”

“I see”, he caught himself saying in a quiet voice, in a whisper. Hopefully, he wasn’t heard.

“I guess everything does come to an end, us liking it or not”, he sighed again. These words were followed by a silence, one that was quite comfortable for both parts. Jongho didn’t know what to say and Yeosang seemed to still have some tears to let free. It hurt much more to watch him crying from up close, he realized.

Something clicked inside the photographer’s mind, opening his bag so he could find some tissues inside and hand them to the other. “I always keep some in there to clean my lenses”, he clarified after earning a glare. When a single brow went up, he pointed at the camera resting beside himself. “I’m a photographer. Anyway, do take it. I will discard them later.”

He did as told, thanking him in a quiet voice. “I don’t know why I told you this, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I asked.”

“Why did you?”, he turned his head to Jongho again. “What made you come to me and hear how I was ditched?”

The question made him gulp down, feeling a bit nervous. But, considering how honest he had been before, he reasoned he should tell Yeosang the truth too. “Your beauty captivated me.”

“ _Please_ ”, he was quick to scoff.

“I’m serious! From far away you looked really endearing, the sunlight hitting on your skin only partially, the leaves forming nice shapes. But then I zoomed in with my camera and noticed you were crying”, he breathed in before continuing. “Even with tears and red eyes you still looked enticing, but even so… it felt so sad. It was beautifully heartbreaking and I told you, a man as pretty as yourself should be smiling instead. So I came here to fix it.”

“So you just talked to me to fix the scenario?”, Yeosang asked after a while, but by the smirk on his lips and the tone in his voice, it was evident he was just teasing. “Well, thanks for listening to my beautifully heartbreaking story. It somehow helped.”

“I’m happy to hear that.”

The other nodded. “Do I look better now?”

Jongho felt his heart skip a beat as he watched the other smile, one that wasn’t sad like his forced one. It felt genuine and it was so pretty. “Yeah. You really do look better when you are smiling.”

“You’re not that bad yourself, with that grin of yours”, he pointed out, which made him feel nervous again. He hadn’t even noticed he had been smiling all this time.

After a couple of seconds spent in silence, Jongho decided to get up. “Well, maybe I should get going--”

“Where to?”, Yeosang questioned him. “You still didn’t finish your task, did you, photographer Choi?”

He tilted his head at that, not understanding what he meant by that.

“Didn’t you plan on fixing the scenario for a photo? Then”, he said with a shrug, falling comfortably on the tree’s trunk. “Feel free to take as many photos as you’d like.”

Those words took a while for it to sink in, but once they did, he was smiling widely at the other. “Sure then, Kang Yeosang-ssi.”

Jongho was glad that he hadn’t just captured a couple of photos from far away and left. After all, Yeosang’s natural beauty was much more radiant from up close, and with a sweet smile on his lips. 

It made him want to preserve it. 

“Say, are you busy right now?”, he asked after the photos. “The day still is very enjoyable. We could keep talking about other subjects and get to know ourselves better…?”

He hoped he didn’t seem too desperate or pushy to the other, after all, he had just been dumped by a longtime lover. Still, Yeosang responded with a smile that made his chest tight yet happy. “I’d love to.”


End file.
